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Slower

Only our internet. Not life. Sadly. Having been offline for almost a week due to changing providers you would think I would have accomplished far more than usual. Not so.

Well, perhaps it is so. I have after all managed to cook and clean for one early Christmas dinner AND spend a whole day and a half sewing quilt covers with DIL#1. Not to mention, having a houseful of young adults again (including Son#3's lovely girlfriend), going to watch The Most Adorable Granddaughters#1 & #2 in their Nativity Play, and beginning our 'Spring' clean to have the house all spic and span by Christmas Day (the real one - not the early one although we tried to have it nice by then too).

Now that I've finished work for the year I'm wondering how I ever managed to fit it in. The idea of being a full-time stay-at-home-Mum is very tempting even if all my chicks will be off out of the nest come the beginning of next year.

Anyway, some photo highlights of the previous week.

First in ... first served.

One week on: the finished Christmas Pudding. (It looks rather boring like this but heated up and served with cream it was delicious.)

Time for presents.

All else takes a back seat when the sewing machines are out especially when both sewing machines are thirty years old and temperamental (hence the messy house and sons looking lost in the kitchen).

SchnauzerMom, our Christmas pudding is an English tradition. I think they often call theirs Plum Pudding and while some recipes call for prunes, ours does not. It is traditionally served with cream or brandy custard. We prefer cream or vanilla custard although it's good with ice cream too.

I call desserts that have been steamed like this "pudding" but many people here would call all desserts pudding. To me, pudding is something rather stodgy and hot and just right for winter. (Okay, it is summer here but a lot of our Christmas traditions come from England where it's winter at this time of the year.)

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Welcome to my Blog. I'm "Jules": Christian, wife, mother, grandmother, early childhood teacher, writer, wannabe musician, quilter, and knitter. Born in Australia, I now make my home in New Zealand where I enjoy spending time outdoors and with my family, which now includes five handsome sons, three beautiful daughters-in-law, and seven absolutely gorgeous granddaughters.